Kozlowski's Trading Post and Stage Stop / NPS / Stan Ford 2016

Pecos National Historical Park has been awarded funding to rehabilitate the historic Kozlowski's Trading Post along Highway 63 in Pecos, New Mexico. The project, which begins in late February 2019, will transform the building into a visitor contact station, museum, and employee office space.

Founded to preserve both historic and natural resources, Pecos allows hikers to explore ruins and the landscape that drew humans to this spot for hundreds of years. Weil Construction from Albuquerque is the General Contractor and is teamed with Avanyu General Contracting of Española and Pat Taylor Historic Preservation of Mesilla, New Mexico, for the rehabilitation phase of the project. No tax dollars will be used for this initiative, instead receipts from visitor entrance fees from parks around the country will fund the rehabilitation of this building.

The Trading Post has a storied past. A Polish immigrant named Martin Kozlowski originally constructed the building along the Santa Fe Trail in 1858, and it served as one of the last stage stops before trail-weary travelers arrived in Santa Fe after months on the dusty trail.

During the Civil War Battle of Glorieta Pass, the structure served as a Union hospital. In 1925, rodeo-promoter and entrepreneur Tex Austin purchased the building and turned it into headquarters for his famous Forked Lightning Ranch. In the 1940s, E.E. "Buddy" Fogelson bought the ranch and brought his Hollywood actress wife, Oscar-winning Greer Garson, to the Forked Lightning Ranch. Together, they worked the land as a hobby ranch and entertained many famous guests.

In 1990, the National Park Service acquired the ranch and Trading Post and used it as office space, until 2006, when the building was deemed unfit for occupancy.